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THE QUEEN S ROSARY 



THE QVEEN'S ROSARY AN 
ACROSTIC SIXTY SONNETS 
CELEBRATING AN EVENT 
OF EACH OF SIXTY YEARS 
OF THE MOST GLORIOVS 
REIGN IN HISTORY^ A^ ^ 
BYALICE DAVIS V\N CLEVE 





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NEW YORK FL.H. RVSSELL MCME 







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Copyright 1902 by Robert Howard Russell 



THE LIBRAfTY Of 

CONGRESS, 
Two Copiiid R«ociva> 

NOV. ' ^ t95? 
COPY 8. 






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TO THE MEMORY 

OF 
QUEEN VICTORIA 



INDEX 

V I The Accession 

I II The Coronation 

C III The Queen's Marriage 

T IV Birth of H.R.H. the Princess Royal 

V Birth of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales 
R VI Visit to Scotland 

1 VII In Arcady 
A VIII In Arcady 

D IX In Arcady 

E X In Arcady 

I XI The Queen to her King 

G XII The Reply 

XIII To Prince Albert 

A XIV Opening of the Crystal Palace 

T XV Building of Balmoral 

I XVI Death of the Duke of Wellington 

A XVII War with Russia 

Q XVIII Battle of Balaklava 

Li XIX Visit of Louis Napoleon and Victor Emanuel 

E XX Birth of H.R.H. the Princess Beatrice 

E XXI Massacre of Cawnpore 

N XXII India transferred to the Crown 

O XXIII Twenty vears Married 

F ' XXIV Death of the Queen's Mother 



s 



INDEX 

G XXV Death of H.R.H. Prince Albert 

f J^Xl jj^arriage of H.R.H. Prince of Wales i 

E XXVII Suggested by **More Leaves*' ! 

A XXVIII Death of Abraham Lincoln ^ 

T XXIX Suggested by " More Leaves " 

B XXX Opening of the Suez Canal 

y YYv^T y^v^^l^^f of H.R.H. Prince Albert's Statue 

1 XXXII Suggested by " More Leaves " 

I yvvttJ ^.^^^Z'*^^ ^f H.R.H. the Princess Louise 

T ^^X ^^^S^^ of the Empress Eugenie 

w J^Yt Suggested by '* More Leaves " 

JN XXXVI Suggested by " More Leaves *' 

A XXXVII Death of Many Noted Men 

S ^ vvvVv ^^'"'^S^J'l H.R.H. Duke of Edinborough 

u XXXIX Suggested by " More Leaves '* 

I XL Acrostic " Indiae Imperatrix " 

R XLI Cyprus ceded to England 

r Y^^TT S^^^u ""i ^•^•^- ^^^ Princess Alice 

L XLIII Death of the Prince Imperial 

M ^^y Death of Lord Beaconsfield 

^ vTxX Assassination of the Czar of Russia 

u XLVI Suggested by the closing lines of " More Leave 



INDEX 

E XLVII Death of Prince Leopold 

M XLVIII Death of General Gordon 

P XLIX Death of H.R.H. Prince Louis of Battenburg 

R L Tennyson created a Peer 

E LI Golden Jubilee 

S LI I Death of the Emperor Frederick of Germany 

S LIII To the Queen 

LIV Suggested by the Labour Agitations 

F LV Death of H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence 

1 LVI To the Queen 

N LVII Marriage of H.R.H. the Duke of York 

D LVIII Birth of Prince Edward of York 

I LIX To the Queen 

A LX Acrostic, "Albert, Victoria" 




'ICTORIA! what quick pro- 
phetic power 

Inspired your sponsors, that the 
chosen name 

Compassed the rounded splen- 
dour of a fame 
I That proves oracular the 
christ'ning hour ! 
Of those green lands, wherein or court or tower 
Rang ne'er to clank of alien steel since came 
Invincible your Norman sires, you claim 
A still unconquered nation as your dower. 
Regal the heritage, yet more than pride 
Ephemeral, of pomp and circumstance ; 
Greater than rank or wealth, the gauds of chance, 
Is virtue, crowned by length of days that glide 
Noiseless, serene ; the just inheritance 
Alone of those who in God's grace abide. 

The Accession. 1837-1838. Acrostic, VICTORIA REGINA 




II 

iT is the time when dewy English 
bowers 
And lanes, grown languorous 
'neath the close caress 
Of lingering June, breathe forth 
their wreathed excess 
Of fragrance from a luxury of 
flowers : 

And yet no rose, gem-crowned by gentle showers, 
Lifts to the fanning air more loveliness 
Than England's queen, the fresh May bloom excresce 
From out the tree, whose grateful shade o'ertowers 
Her peaceful isles ; whose roots, deep intergrown, 
Absorb the essences, ethereal, fine. 
Of patriot blood, spilled for its nourishment, 
O'er every rood of English soil. Her throne 
Is in her people's hearts, her right divine. 
The loyal love that hails her Heaven-sent. 

The Coronation. 1838-1839 




Ill 

ROWNED triply, with the dia- 
dem of state 
And youth's slight silver fillet, 
loosely wound 

Beneath the coronal by Hymen 
bound 
About the blue- veined brows. No 
rarer fate 

Can life reserve, for lowly or for great, 
Than love returned, and when, as here, 't is found 
Joined with fruition of all hopes, hedged round 
By constant truth, desire is satiate. 
Most royal lovers ! Still your crescent heat 
Waxed each towards each, till orbed into a sphere 
Of temperate, changeless light, whose beams evolved 
From deathless elements, can ne*er deplete 
Till kingdoms, thrones, earth, heaven itself, are mere 
Spent dust upon the drift of worlds dissolved. 

The Queen's Marriage. 1839-1840 




IV 

HE nightingale that, from a forest 
tree, 

Has trilled the tranced night to 
calm profound, 
Teaching her fledgling some 
quaint trick of sound. 
Knows not the silence of the 
flower-strewn lea 
Is tribute to her song's rare minstrelsy. 
Through arched and blazoned casements, ivy-crowned. 
Through half-closed cottage lattice, floats a sound 
That wakes responsive to its melody 
The hearts of English mothers. 'T is the sweet 
Low crooned cradle-song, so long unheard 
Within the palace walls ; and she, the good. 
The gentle queen, like Philomel, replete 
With rapture, dreams not how her realm is stirred. 
While listening to that psalm of motherhood. 

Birth of H.R.H. The Princess Royal. 1840-1841 




V 

F opiate pleasures she has set 
aside 
^The flagon from her lips, and 
stoops, to slake 

Her thirst, at rills of limpid joys 
that wake 

Among Arcadian glades, in rip- 
pling tide ; 

Pure, freshening springs, from which the lowliest bride 
In Albion's briar-wreathed vales may take 
Unstinted measure ; and calm pools, that make 
Cool coverts where content and peace abide. 
The violet shadows of her mantle rest, 
In purple splendour, o'er the baby grace 
Of England's heir. His soft curl's sunbeam hue 
Is like the broom that waved o'er Geoffrey's crest 
And, in the blush-rose fairness of his face 
The warring roses their stilled strife renew. 

Birth of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. 1841-1842 




VI 

INGS out no more the slogan's 
echo shrill, 

No more war's blood-dyed portent, \ 
meteor bright, 

Flashes in lurid flame from height 
to height : \ 

But soft the pibroch's throbbing 
notes from hill i 

And distant glen, with wild, sweet welcome, thrill 
The soul of hapless Mary's heir, who, light 
Of heart, to her own clan returns. The rite 
Of ancient custom greets her home, and still 
More holy voice of kindred love that glows 
Warm 'neath the tartaned breasts. Time's cleansing fire 
Has seared the cankered wounds of ancient feud, 
And joined, 'neath loyalty's close-welding blows. 
The war-rent land, from Durness' humblest byre 
To sombre, romance-haunted Holyrood. 

Visit to Scotland. 1842-1843 




VII 

N Eros' labyrinthine courts, 
where aye 
Throng ceaselessly the swift 
succeeding guests, 
O'er every couple such enchant- 
ment rests 
It seems a tranquil solitude 
where they 
Alone in blissful isolation stray. 
Delicious spell ! that wild'ringly attests 
Love's lore of tricksy cunning, while he vests 
With such transcendent charm, the mortal clay, 
It seems his very substance, and the twain. 
In mingled homage, vassal each to each, 
To his veiled power vicarious fealty own. 
Here England's Queen kneels to her king, and fain 
Would ever dwell within his realm, nor reach 
For other glories than his heart enthrone. 

In Arcady. 1843- 1844 




VIII 

THWART the arching space 

of heaven, belate, 
The morning Twilight, idling, 
felt the sting 

Of Phoebus' lance ; and as a 
bird with wing 

Pierced by some swift-sped dart, 
may palpitate 
Long in the forest, so she lay. The implicate 
Entwining boughs closed o'er her, prisoning 
Her languid limbs, with many a close-meshed ring 
Of lacing vines, and tendrils delicate. 
There in the fastness of some highland wood 
The royal lovers, straying, found the maid 
And resting with her, soothed away her pain 
With gentle touch and sweet solicitude, 
Until at eve, refreshed and unafraid. 
She spread her wings and skyward soared again. 

In Arcady. 1844-1845 




IX 

EEP dreamless hours in blissful 
Arcady ! 
Where, under quivering boughs, 
the glittering rain 
Of love's down-pouring rays 

engrails the plain ; 
While all across the dewy verdure 
flee 

And flit the phosphor fires of ecstasy. 
Who 'neath such fadeless radiance has lain, 
To watch the constant beams, nor wax, nor wane. 
What need of orbing, lessening moon has she ? 
Of fickle, faithless stars, that one by one 
Desert the cloud-stormed citadel of night? 
Nor cloud, nor storm, nor night can quench the glow 
Of holy love ; immortal effluence spun 
From filmy fancies to such flawless light 
As from Empyreal orbs alone can flow. 

In Arcady. 1845-1846 




X 

LUSIVE, as some half- 
forgotten air, 
A timid visitant that oft- 
times sighs 

On memory's threshold, 
though afar it flies 
When wide we fling the 
portal, are the fair 
Unstable joys of life. Yet to this pair, 
Blest of the gods, grave Clotho nought denies, 
But swiftly, evenly, the distaff plies. 
Spinning the rose-hued threads to texture rare. 
As Lachesis twists, twining in the strand, 
The gleaming argent of bright, childish smiles, 
And Iris-tinted pleasures, power and state. 
E'en palsy-shaken Atropos, her hand 
Restrains in ruth: so true love oft beguiles 
To tenderness, the arbiters of fate. 

In Arcady. 1846-1847 




XI 

CANNOT tell you how I love 
you, dear, 

But when you come the place is 
sudden filled 
With undefined light, like sun- 
shine spilled 

From out a rifted cloud. When 
you are near 
No night is dark, no clouded day is drear, 
But ev'ry hour is to sweet uses willed. 
My world becomes a cloister, hushed and stilled 
To vesper quiet, where my thoughts appear 
Like veiled nuns chanting the *' Magnificat, 
Anima mea," oh my love! but thee, 
With worship single as thy merits are, 

From thy pressed palms such strange peace thrills through tth 
As blest my childish prayers, and from afar 
I feel the unvoiced '' Benedicite/' 

The Queen to Her King. 1847-1848 




XII 

RAND, lonely, sombre, seems 
some storm-girt height 
To him who, journeying o'er 

a lowland plain, 
Views, through the slanting 
bars of distant rain. 
Its peaks abrupt, round which 
Jove's flashing light 
Plays ceaselessly. Yet, ere another night, 
When high o'er verdured slopes to nature's fane, 
By pleasant paths, his eager steps attain, 
Within the nave of arching trees, he quite 
Forgets his awe, in reverence. My own ! 
So I, beneath the veil of royalty, 
Have found the holy temple of thy soul, 
Where sinless thoughts, like acolytes intone 
The cadenced offices in ministry 
To him, who wears love's consecrated stole." 

The Reply. 1848-1849 




XIII 

ARE Prince ! Thine were a calm 

and ordered mind, 
A tranquil soul, a heart whose 

rhythmic beat 
Was timed to constancy's set 
metre, sweet 
^Though grave. This equal trin- 
ity combined 
To form thy virile character, refined 
By courtly grace to chivalry's complete 
And realized ideal. Though the heat 
Of fervent zeal for all that helps mankind, 
For England's honour, and for England's queen, 
Infused thy breast, it harboured not a thought 
Of selfish, base ambition. Thine the free, 
Unbiased counsels, passionless, serene, 
That with Victoria's rare wisdom wrought 
The present weal, the glory yet to be. 

To Prince Albert. 1849-1850 




XIV 

S o*er the war-worn world soft- 
pinioned Peace 
Broods, ever lightly poised, 
with restless wing 
Half stretched as if for flight, 
should faintest sting 
Of Discord's poisoned lance 
her plumage crease ; 
England would, undisturbed, prolong her lease 
Of nesting time, that softly fluttering 
Unfledged delights, her quickening warmth may bring 
To such maturity that their increase 
May fill and bless the earth. So, reverently 
She rears unto her heavenly visitor 
An altar glowing with exotics rare. 
And lights, and gifts from far across the sea, 
^A^here all men, joined in homage, worship her 
W^ho crowns with blessing e'en unanswered prayer. 

Opening of the Crystal Palace. 1850-1851 




XV 

HIS is a rare pavilion for the 
tryst 

Of majesty and simple joy, 
hung o'er 
And tapestried with Tyrian 
from the store 
Of lavish Nature. Here as 
soft as list, 
In dyes of varied violets, the mist 
Droops like an arras to the purple floor, 
Where gem-like gleam, the heather fronds strewn o'er, 
Sarama's tears all turned to amethyst. 
So glow with royalty's own hues the heights 
And glens of bonny Scotland, where love's nest 
Hangs like an eyrie underneath the dome 
Of shelt'ring skies. Here sweet content invites 
The queen and her loved lord to calmly rest 
And prove the satisfying charms of home. 

Building of Balmoral. 1851-1852 




XVI 

iN London's vast cathedral, 
hoar with rime 

Of fateful centuries, a nation's 
debt 

Is paid in honours, tears and 
vain regret 

For him, whose fame shall be 
the peer of Time. 
As from the huddling sands the white shores climb 
To rugged promontories, bulwarks set 
Round Albion's coast, to break the jarring fret 
Of restless seas, so rose his will sublime, 
His purpose pure and steadfast. From those rocks 
Recoiled to shattered spray, in impotence, 
The mighty wave evolved from the abyss 
Of fathomless ambition. Such power mocks 
The angry tides of anarch insolence, 
That, round the strength of nations, seethe and hiss. 

Death of the Duke of Wellington. 1852-1853 




XVII 

GAIN war's clamour startled, 
to swift flight, 
The gentle spirit who, so long 
at rest. 
Dwelt in the land, a loved 
and welcome guest. 
From the envenomed East, 
the home of blight 
And treachery, the fierce, ensanguined light. 
Of ruthless carnage, roused the slumb'ring West, 
Till, forth she sent her legions, o'er the crest 
Of wild, encircling waves, to curb his might, 
And humble him, who scrupled not to kill 
The weak and helpless, yet to cloak his guilt, 
Plead holy zeal for truth, and the pure cause 
Of Christ, the Merciful. Britannia still 
To honour true, grasped the sword's blood-stained hilt, 
Avenging Justice, and her outraged laws. 

War with Russia. 1853-1854 




XVIII 

'UIVERS my harp, as tense- 
drawn lute strings do, 
Half audibly vibrating to the 
roll 

Of thrilling harmonies wrought 
in the soul 
Of some enthusiast, who earth- 
ward drew 

Celestial choirs, and bade their chords, anew. 
Pulse from the deep-toned organ, to extol 
The deeds of heroes, or bewail the dole 
Of nations. Even yet, resounding through 
The long receding aisle of arching years, 
Peals clear the master's mighty requiem. 
He sang the glory of the deathless dead 
So wondrously, so tenderly, with tears 
And grief and triumph blended, that for them 
My faint lament is music echoed. 

Battle of Balaklava. 1854-1855 




XIX 

NTO the queen come monarchs 
grave, perplexed 
By questions intricate, for 
counsels sage. 
As erst in Greece, while yet 
her golden age 

Of fame was orbing, thronging 
to the blest 
Mysterious shrine at Delphi, eager pressed 
The multitude ; King, Conqueror or Mage 
Seeking for light upon some ciphered page, 
That from the future's tome they fain would wrest 
And read untimely. Weightier oracles, 
From Pythian sybil's frenzied lips than fell. 
Are those the calm-browed priestess of divine 
Athene frames. No selfish passion dulls 
Her quick perceptions, so no words excel 
In pregnant thought her judgments keen and fine. 

Visit of Louis Napoleon and Victor Emanuel. 1855-1856 




XX 

VEN while clouds are tem- 
pest-driven afar 
Across the darkened sky, 
while lightnings play- 
In blinding flashes, and the 
deaf 'ning fray 
Of rolling thunder breaks 
with hideous jar 
Upon the awe-wrought nerves ; an azure bar 
Of tranquil sky, near the horizon, may 
Still hold, a little space, the fading day 
Upon its shield, till Vesper's pallid star 
Floats slowly upward. Every wind that blew 
Across the southern ocean, bore war's mad, 
Fierce tidings, yet this year was blest withal. 
When gentle Beatrice was born to woo 
The queen from anxious thoughts before the sad, 
Dark night of grief, spread its all-shrouding pall. 

Birth of H.R.H. the Princess Beatrice. 1856-1857 




XXI 

NGLAND, e'en yet, bewails 
her martyred dead, 
Whose holy, guiltless blood's 

deep crimson dye 
Stained the white lintels o'er 
the portals high 
Of Liberty's unentered temple, 
shed 

Upon its very threshold. Thence it plead 
With mute insistence, to the Empyry, 
Piercing the ear of Justice with a cry. 
Voiceless but potent, till swift Victory sped 
To crown the English standards. Sacrifice 
Of pure atonement, such as consecrate 
All noble issues, was that holocaust 
Of agonized innocence, the price 
Of blood paid for the ransom of a state ; 
Pure as the Christ's, without which. Heaven were lost. 

Massacre of Cawnpore. 1857-1858 




XXII 

EVER since Clive, in Arcot*s 
crucial fire, 
Purged from his god-like soul 
all alloy base 

Of human lust for power, of 
greed for place, 
Until it whitely glowed with 
hot desire 

That England's strength should draw from the foul mire 
Of tyranny, a great but trampled race, 
Had her sun of wise rule sought to efface 
From India the shadow of empire. 
Time-sanctioned through long centuries of crime 
And slavery to custom. The fierce storm. 
Brewed of mad fear, by its own force so cleared 
The air, that high in heaven that disk sublime, 
Dispelling every cloud or shade with warm 
Creative heat, unveiled, for aye appeared. 

India transferred to the Crown. 1858-1859 




XXIII 

H perfect years ! twin decades 
of delight, 
^That rest upon the depths of 
memory 

Girt by the past's steep, path- 
less walls that she 
May nevermore descend, but, 
from whose height 
May mark them flit, in varying shade and light. 
Upon the wide, calm pool, as oft we see 
The slow winged herons droop majestically 
From far unfolding space, in pulseless flight 
Down to a mountain tarn, sunk midst a space 
Of circling precipices, stark and blank. 
No veiling mists of Time obscure from view 
Those years, whose dawning, full-orbed, passing grace 
Her soul so loved that from the present's bank, 
In dreams she sinks and floats with them anew. 

Twenty years married. 1859-1860 




XXIV 

IND England's love no votive 
taper, hung 

Before thy shrine throughout a 
day's short space ; 
Nor blue smoke curling towards 
the holy place, 
From the low flame in silver 
censer swung, 
To mark an hour's worship. Faint among 
The glowing lights of feasts and holy days, 
Its spark burned dimly ; but when darkness stays 
And all is still, the evening office sung, 
Joy's vot'ries gone, and down the ghostly line 
Of lancelike windows slowly fades the light ; 
Thy people's love, a sanctuary lamp. 
With soft, unchanging radiance shall shine. 
The while thine altar, through the lonely night. 
Is veiled by sorrow's vapours, bleak and damp. 

Death of the Queen's mother. 1860-1861 




XXV 

OD only, in His deep com- 
passion, healed 
Her wounds, who, from such 

dizzy heights of bliss, 
Fell to the deepest slough of 
grief's abyss. 
To Him her cruel agony 
appealed, 

Till, in His wondrous love, He stood revealed. 
As only unto those who humbly kiss 
His chastening rod. He spread, to cicatrice 
Her fevered wounds, a cooling balm, the yield 
Of prayer and deep desire to leave undone 
No task or plan, dear to the selfless heart 
Of her lost consort. Thus she nerved her will 
Obedient to her people's need. Rare one ! 
In all thy line's long chronicle, thou art 
In love, in grief, in courage, matchless still. 

Death of H.R.H. Prince Albert. 1861-1862 




XXVI 

ANG soft the wedding bells, 
as when the air, 
Upon some Sabbath eve, is 
thick with rain 
And far away and faint, the 
deadened strain 
Of vesper chime falls plain- 
tively. As fair 
As faith's bright rainbow arching grief's despair 
With hope ; or as the light that, o'er the plain 
Of midnight skies, streams from the icy main 
Round Denmark's farthest isles; to England's heir 
Came Alexandra, radiant and young 
As fadeless Freya, whose fresh loveliness 
Made the short summer of the northern years. 
Though, with the pain of bliss recalled new wrung, 
The Queen's heart bled, she raised her head to bless 
Her children's joy and smiled amid her tears. 

Marriage of H.R.H. Prince of 'Wales. 1862-1863 




XXVII 

YES (whose deep wells of 
patient calm are fed 
By streams, that slowly filter 
purified 
Through cleansing sands of 

resignation; tide, 
Whose changeless source finds 
a far fountain head 
On sorrow's snow-crowned heights, shadowless spread 
Beneath Heaven's thawing beams, that far and wide 
Across their isolation changeless glide). 
Unto your swollen lids cling tear-drops, freed 
By sympathy's mild warmth, the while you con 
Grief's tender idyl of pure love and loss; 
The simple annals of those lonely years 
Wherein the Queen, by thorn-strewn stages, won 
Treading the blist'ring roadway of the cross, 
To calm endurance of life's pain and fears. 

Suggested by *'More Leaves." 1863-1864 




XXVIII 

CROSS the Western wave, 
all Europe hears, 
In silent horror, borne the 
mighty wail 

Of a great nation's travail. 
When the veil 
Of discord's womb was rent, 
and 'mid the tears 
And sobs of agony, mingled with cheers 
Of joy and thankfulness, that blending hail 
The natal hour of peace; men shudd'ring quail 
At Treachery's fierce cry, who darkly smears, 
With Cain's red brand, war's honest, unshamed front. 
Of this new birth of liberty the sire, 
Like Christ's faint type, Prometheus, loving well 
Mankind, long proved the pain of malice' blunt, 
Unsated beak. The Titan drew Heaven's fire 
To earth, but Lincoln raised a race from hell. 

Death of Abraham Lincoln. 1864-1865 




XXIX 

HE mournful, lagging months 
so slowly flee, 
They seem, of years, a very 
passion week 
Through which her soul, in 
desolation meek. 
Has trod the via crucis, 
wearily. 

From station unto station. Slowly she 
Has trailed her sombre vestments down the bleak, 
Cold isles of circumstance, that spot to seek 
Where life's sole bliss hung crucified. If he 
But for one hour, might step across the bourne 
Of silence, touch her hand, some low words say 
Breathing of hope and consolation, all 
The world would seem a joyful Easter morn 
While with his voice " Regina lactare ! *' 
The Paschal Angelus in peace would fall. 

Suggested by '' More Leaves." 1865-1866 




XXX 

[IN DING, with shortened links, 

the cable strong 
[Of England's power, round all of 
English blood. 
Far scattered o'er the deeps 
whose shoreward flood 
Bears from the utmost earth her 
children's song 
Of loyalty. From reefs where days are long, 
'Neath tropic suns, or where the bright stars stud 
A night of changeful moons, her vessels scud 
Back to her open ports, to join the throng 
That press against her wharves. Man's genius bade 
The Asian floods roll through the eastern gates. 
Unlocked the portals of God's barricade 
'Twixt sea and sea, and thereby wrought the glad 
And mighty union of far severed states, 
On Britain's strength irrevocably stayed. 

Opening of the Suez Canal. 1866-1867 




XXXI 

EPRINT of outward excel- 
lence, alone, 
[Yet mystically, sacramental 
ties 

Between the past and coming 
years, arise 
^The statues of earth's heroes. 
The cold stone. 
Or mute, insensate bronze is overgrown 
With such a vine of tangled memories. 
Of noble thoughts, pure impulses, and wise 
Achievement, that man's spirit falleth, prone, 
In rev'rence of the virtue typified. 
Your claim to honour from an age to be 
Will strengthen with still lengthening lapse of time, 
Great Prince ! who fostered Peace, till multiplied 
Art, wisdom, science, her great progeny, 
Shall rise in might and break the power of crime. 

Unveiling of H. R. H. Prince Albert's Statue. 1867-1868 




XXXII 

|N cool, refreshing glades 

beneath the trees, 
'O'er crag and eyrie, high- 
land and wild glen 
Reliving her lost years 
with him, again 
She wanders, wrapt in 
tender reveries ; 
Hearing his voice borne on the waking breeze, 
Or fancying his step falls lightly when 
Some slight twig crackles suddenly, and then 
Is lonelier as the pain-wrought phantasies 
Resolve into the silence whence they came. 
Mnemosyne ! thy holiest, fairest shrines 
Are those where nature and simplicity 
Feed, with pure oils, the aromatic flame 
Of constancy, that on thine altar shines. 
Through days and nights, clear and unceasingly. 

Suggested by " More Leaves." 1868-1869 




XXXIII 

HOUGH love were dumb, 
still had it eloquence 
Rarer than that of words. Not 
from the tongue 
Out flows best, all its story, 
though *t were hung 
Tuneful as chiming temple 
bells ; not thence 
Its tender tones ring truest, with intense 
Deep earnestness, for lightest thoughts are strung 
Upon the thread of phrased speech. O, young 
And happy lover, though, from the defense 
Of modest lips, her vows steal timidly, 
Unto the language of her soul thine ear 
Is swift, and nought its keen sensation dulls : 
A trembling sigh betrays her ecstasy, 
A blush, a touch speaks rapture clarion clear, 
For voiceless signs are aye truth*s oracles. 

Betrothal of H. R. H. the Princess Louise. 1869-1870 




XXXIV 

H Ci^SAR ! France ! had she 
but rendered you! — 
Only the penny bearing your 
impress 

In honest tribute to your king- 
liness, 

She still had kept your favour ; 
but she threw 
Her life's whole treasure freely as 'twere due, 
Within your coffers. Her sad lips confess 
Through sobs, her fault. To God belonged th' excess 
She gave. Not hers the gold, but for a true 
And faithful use 'twas lent. Now, lovingly. 
Within the shelter of His holy place 
He leads the gentle penitent, in sweet 
And loving pity, while, ungratefully. 
You stand apart with cold, averted face 
And trample all her glory 'neath your feet. 

Flight of the Empress Eugenie. 1870-1871 




XXXV 

|N the mere name of Holy- 
rood there lies 
^A magical enchantment, to 

arouse 
'The ardent chivalry of youth. 

Sweet brows, 
That found the crown too 
heavy, lovely eyes. 
That still through centuries, from romance* skies, 
Shine like twin stars, your sadness so endows 
Beauty with mystery, that as we drowse 
O'er history's dim page from Paradise, 
Your old sweet spell of fascination falls. 
What Mary touched, the faded tapestry. 
That once beneath her nimble needle glowed 
Her trinkets, all are sacred, and these walls 
Blackened and scarred by age, seem but to be 
The roughened shell, wherein a pearl abode. 

Suggested by " More Leaves." 1871-1872 




XXXVI 

O more the earnest voice of 
him who trod 
The footsteps of his Master 
e'er will send 

Kind words of comfort to a 
grieving friend. 
His eyes are looking on the 
face of God, 
He hears the welcome, sees th' approving nod 
That stamps his work '' Well done ! " who to the en* 
Bore patiently the cross, strove to extend 
The confines of Christ's earthly kingdom. Shod 
With simple faith he walked above the waves 
Of unbelief and sin, with steadfast gaze 
Fixed on the Saviour's face, yet stooping oft 
With the strong grasp of holy love that saves. 
Some weak and drowning sufferer to raise, 
Till death's strong pinions bore his soul aloft. 

Suggested by " More Leaves." 1872-1873 




XXXVII 

LL accident and disap- 
pointment be 
But artisans or architects 
sublime, 
Who slowly, on the cen- 
otaph of Time, 
Range sad event and 
seeming casualty, 
In just relation to the symmetry 
Limned in the intricate but grand design. 
Lay stone on stone, till they with all combine 
Into the perfect whole our eyes shall see 
When, from eternity's far vantage height. 
Its marvellous proportions now concealed 
By their immensity, we clearly view. 
Then shall this block, so dull with loss, be bright 
W^ith tracery of brilliant names, revealed 
Upon the polished shaft, in varied hue. 

Death of Many Noted Men. 1873-1874 




XXXVIII 

jEVER before, had Russia's 

eagles met 
[The gaunt, lithe leopards on a 

bloodless field, 
►Till love so quartered them upon 
the shield 

Of heraldry ; its glories boldly 
set 

Against the lofty outer parapet 
Of Hymen's fairy palace. There revealed 
To curious eyes, an augury they yield, 
AA/'ith cabalistic symbols interfret, 
Of that great day of peace so long deferred, 
When lamb and lion shall lie side by side 
In pleasant meadows ; when the longed-for birth 
Of the new reign of God's most holy Word 
Shall hatred, war, and malice over-ride. 
And love, eternal love, shall rule the earth. 

Marriage of H.R.H. Duke of Edinborough. 1874-1875 




XXXIX 

ESERVINGLY, the Queen 
her people's praise 
And truest love has won, who, 
tenderly, 

How e'er so mean or lowly 
their degree. 

Stoops to their needs, when in 
the darkened ways 
Of life they, wandering, meet her gentle gaze 
Bent on their grief with loving sympathy, 
Knowing her heart aches for their agony. 
And as she soothes, with kindly word and phrase, 
Some aching heart whose only treasure lies 
Hidden, the grass-meshed, humble mound, below ; 
Whose joy is buried with the well loved dead ; 
Beneath her lids they see the tear drops rise. 
And feel her pain, the while she murmurs low, 
" It is but for a time, be comforted/* 

Suggested by *' More Leaves." 1875-1876 




XL 

SSUE of power ! immortal 

Wisdom ! sprung, 
N ew clad with strength, from 

turmoil riven thought, 
D iffuse the lustre from thy 

flame enwrought 
iEgis, of tempered liberty, 
among 

I nert and wearied nations, tortured, stung, 
M ade weak by tyranny, till the long sought 
P alladium brought release. That vict'ry fraught 
E ffigy, Britain bears, where e'er are hung 
R ound vassal thrones, the ensigns of her might, 
A nd, from the convex mirror of its shield, 
T hrough error's blackest shades, without decrease, 
R eflected shines the vitalizing light, 
I ntense, as when o'er Calvary first revealed, 
X t's mercy-tempered justice, and His peace. 

Acrostic " Indae Imperatrix." 1876-1877 




XLI 

OUND Cyprus* shores, Brit- 
annia's fleets are moored, 
[While curling waves caress 

their guardian prows, 
As once they laved the fragile, 

pearly bows 
,Of Aphrodite's cradling shell. 
Inured 

To tyranny and shame, so long endured 
'Neath Asian rule, to register their vows 
And gratitude to Heaven, her men arouse. 
From anxious fears by England reassured. 
When with uneager counsels, threatened war 
In the strong leash of honourable peace 
Was bound, fair Cyprus was resigned to her, 
Who held it feoff when Cceur de Lion bore 
The English standards o'er the southern seas, 
With hope to save the Holy Sepulchre. 

Cyprus ceded to England. 1877-1878 




XLII. 

fVER death's watchful angels, 
shrouded, cower 
Beyond the heavy curtain, 
loosely swung 
[Across the future's open door- 
way, 'mong 

Its waving folds secreted, till 
the hour 

When, suddenly, one stands revealed in power. 
And with the wondrous magic of its tongue 
Woos to immortal life some soul, still young. 
As sunlight draws the moisture from a flower. 
Sweet English Alice ! who to Paradise, 
With homesick tears still heavy on your lids, 
Lfike dew upon a broken lily, passed, 
It may be that your spiritual eyes 
Now gaze upon your father's face, who bids 
You rest within his loving arms at last. 

Death of H.R.H. Princess Alice. 1878-1879 




XLIII 

IKE one who dries her own sad 
tears, to aid 

With kind unselfishness, a 
sufferer 

Less used to grief ; most gentle 
comforter ! 

Though in woe's sombre garments 
still arrayed, 

Thyself, through some sequestered Scottish glade. 
In fancy we may see thee walk with her 
Whose wondrous, radiant youth and beauty were 
The glory of all France. Now in the shade 
Of sorrow's gloomy courts, unlightened save 
By the deep sympathy that from your eyes 
Beams constantly, with broken heart she weeps. 
Widowed, dethroned and lonely, o'er the grave. 
Green 'neath the tearlike dews of English skies, 
Where her sole hope in dreamless quiet sleeps. 

Death of the Prince Imperial. 1879-1880 




XLIV 

FTER life's fitful fever he 
sleeps well!" 
Who loved his country, la- 
boured for his Queen, 
Bore honour and defeat 
with equal mien 
Of dignity and courage. 
While the spell 
Of his rare eloquence o'er England fell, 
While yet his smoothly polished blade of keen 
Invective pierced the superficial sheen 
Of fallacy's weak, gilded mail ; the knell 
Of days accomplished, summoned him afar 
From court and earthly parliament, to those 
High councils of the just made blest. His grave 
Is sweet with primrose blooms, beneath the star 
Of his still waxing fame, that brightly glows 
Above a land he would have died to save. 

Death of Lord Beaconsfield. 1880-1881 




XLV 

EVER on England's sod, plain, 
vale or hill. 
The venomous, soft hissing ser- 
pent brood 
Of anarchy has trailed its slime. 

No wood. 
Or fen so dismal, that its damps 
distill 

The poison dews, whereof such monsters fill 
Themselves and thrive. When on her shores intrude 
Their snaky forms, by subtle arts subdued, 
About the charmed Caducean wand of will 
She twines them lithely, and displays them there, 
In token of Hermean power. She stands 
Guardian of commerce, sets the boundary 
Twixt state and kingdom, and, beyond compare, 
Most prosperous of nations, to all lands 
Proves by her strength, " The bond alone are free ! '* 

Assassination of the Czar of Russia. 1881-1882 



I 




XLVI 

EAR hands ! so powerful, and 
yet so white 
And womanly, that never to a 
line 

Unjust or base, have set the 
lawful sign 

Of royal sanction; that within 
their slight, 
Soft palms have held all treasures that invite 
Youth's ardour to ambition, or the whine 
Of envy, aye all passions that combine 
To spur man to success, found space to write. 
Though cumbered by an empire's cares, a word, 
In echo of your Master's praise of true 
And honest stewardship. Each phrase serene. 
Rebukes the pride that holds all gifts conferred 
By humble love, as service paid and due. 
Shamed by the gratitude of England's Queen. 

Suggested by the closing lines of *' More Leaves." 1882-1883 




XL VI I 

'EN while beneath our fin- 
gers swell the chords 
Of life's grand anthem ; while 
about us stand 
|The trained and sympathetic 

little band 
Of choristers, whose blended 
strains, outpoured 
In harmony, so wondrously accord ; 
It may be, one rare singer from his hand. 
Oppressed by the close organ-loft's unfanned 
And stifling heat, drops his sweet score and toward 
The outer air is fainting borne, then strange 
Seems all the melody, and incomplete. 
Our anxious thoughts would lead us where he lies, 
But we must play our part from change to change. 
Till, the song service done, that voice shall greet 
Us, with familiar tones, to Paradise. 

Death of Prince Leopold. 1883-1884 




XLVIII 

ARTYR to duty ! worthily the 
crown 

Of martyrdom was his, who 
to that goal 

Bore on the blameless scutcheon 
of his soul 
iThe cross of his dear Saviour 
whose renown, 
"Whose glory, weighed his mind's nice balance down 
Till vanity, by God's breath from the bowl 
Of the light scale was blown. Nothing of dole 
Is there in death like this, though grave brows frown 
At the rank treachery that wrought the doom. 
Such lives and their fruition are the sign 
That holiness' immortal ichor flows 
Yet purely from the roots of truth, to bloom 
In beauty on the widely branching vine 
Whose first strong shoots in Bethlehem uprose. 

Death of General Gordon. 1884-1885 




XLIX 

EACE lingered for thy coming, 
fondly bent 
Above thy cradle, blessed thy 

forehead white. 
Then towards the sphered moon 
winged her swift flight. 
Her handmaid, ever more thy 
life was vowed 
To her sweet services. When sorrow's cloud 
Swept suddenly across the perfect night, 
Eclipsing all its stars, the only light 
To cheer the way was thy child smile. Endowed 
With the rare gift of silent sympathy, 
The melancholy queen found the cool touch 
Of healing in the pressure of thy kiss. 
Thine own young heart has known her agony. 
Since at thy side he stood who loved thee much, 
Yet left thee lonely, gentle Beatrice. 

Death of H.R.H. Prince Louis of Battenburg. 1885-1886 




IGHTLY the Queen has hon- 
oured him, whose verse 
So honoured her, that none who 
sing are heard 
More clearly than a piping 
meadow-bird, 
While the glad carol of the 
lark, immerse 
In heaven, still floats to earth. 'Twas he who erse 
The coy, sweet muse of poetry so stirred. 
That, charmed, she ever hung upon his word 
Enamoured, whisp'ring phrases quaint and terse. 
Kissing his eyes till wondrous fancies crept 
Beneath the ivory lids. She tried the strings 
Of light and air, and harmony, till all 
Rang true. The whole wide universe she kept 
Attune for him, and then, with folded wings. 
Dreamed with his dreams, or wakened at his call. 

Tennyson created a Peer. 1886-1887 




LI 

NGLAND exults in hon- 
our to a Queen, 
Beneath whose wise, Satur- 
nian rule the state, 
Through half a century, has 
waxed so great. 
Whose very name an ear- 
nest, aye, has been 
Of victories that girdled all the green- 
Zoned earth with English homes ; and now, elate 
With thankful joy, she would propitiate. 
By royal pageantries, those powers unseen 
W^ho frame the patents of all destinies ; 
That if e'er touched by human sympathy. 
Or, moved, they mark a nation's gratitude. 
In gage thereof, to her blest ministries 
They set a distant omega. Long be 
Thy glorious reign, " Victoria the good ! " 

Golden Jubilee. 1887-1888 







LII 

ORROW'S soft sandals ever 
at the hem 

Of joy's long, trailing festal 
garments tread, 
With the glad songs of praise 

now blends overhead 
^This plaintive minor strain : " Dear 
mother, stem 
My griefs wild tide. Like you, the diadem 
Of Empire I have worn, and now fate's dread, 
Immutable decrees above it spread 
The widow's veil, enshrouding every gem 
Beneath its sombre folds. You, whose kind eyes 
So oft, so sadly weep, oh ! comfort me. 
Who never, till at this stern hour's behest 
I waked to vision clear, could realize 
Your life's long martyrdom, and tenderly 
Soothe me, as when a child, upon your breast." 

Death of the Emperor Frederick of Germany. i888-i88g 



i 




LIII 

ERENEST splendour fills the 
quiet days 

Of life's calm Autumn, while, with 
laden hands. 

Beneath the sunset hues of eve, 
she stands, 
^Glory enwreathed about her like 
the haze 

Of Indian Summer. Every season's phase 
Of beauty charms us ; when with varied bands 
Of sprouting green. Spring streaks the meadow lands ; 
When lovely languid Summer idling strays 
Along the poppy reddened paths, yet each 
Is perfect only as the harvest proves 
Its promise. England, her vast storehouse piles 
W^ith fruit of this long reign, whose bounties pleach 
Round sun-bathed trellises, 'neath which still moves 
The Queen, like Ceres, blessing where she smiles. 

To the Queen. 1889-1890 




LIV 

*VER the shifting sea, of man's 

unrest, 
^Swiftly, the tireless Present 

lightly skims, 
Toward the shadowy, undefined 

rims 
Of life and death. Her low-poised 
wings and breast, 
Are flecked with spray, flung upward from the crest 
Of deed and purpose. It begems or dims 
Their plumage, as a crystal mirror limns. 
Through changing atmospheres the hues impressed 
Upon its tiny globe. When, at the far 
Horizon's undulating line, she shakes 
The moisture from her pinions, light winds bear 
Its lustrate drops, o'er myriad isles that star 
The deep, to fill some inland pool where slakes 
Its thirst, a future age, yet nesting there. 

Suggested by the Labour Agitations. 1890-1 891 



i 




LV 

OR him whose roseleaf touch 
first stirred the deep 
And wondrous springs of mother 
love, fast flow 
The tears of her who ne'er, since 

long ago 
When life's first lullaby soothed 
to death's sleep 
A. blessing disallowed, had bowed to weep 
O'er one of her own children lying low 
And silently upon the bier. None know, 
rill o'er their lives the self-same shadows creep, 
The hopeless anguish of those souls that stand 
Mourning like Rachel for a first-born, lone, 
Jjncomforted, apart from all joy's grace, 
pod ! touch her eyes, that she, among the band 
jDf happy saints may see him near the throne, 
jJA/'ith those who, pure in heart, behold Thy face. 

)eath of H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence. 1891-1892 




LVI 

N eyes, whose depths are chal- 
ices brimmed o'er 
With holy tears, grief's conse- 
crated wine, 

Offered, in sacrifice, before the 
shrine 

Of Death, the ministering years 
aye pour 

New liquors from Fate's presses, from a store 
Exhaustless as life's mysteries. The sign 
Of inward grace, by which the Lord divine 
Has stamped His Sacraments forevermore, 
He sets on sorrow's sacred offices. 
No voice has oftener intoned their chants. 
Than thine, Victoria! whom husband, child. 
And friend, have left in weary loneliness ; 
Though oft times from the shadowy path, that slants 
Twixt earth and Heaven, they turned to thee and smiled. 

To the Queen. 1892-1893 




LVII 

»OW that the dusk of eve has 

hushed the lays 
[That, in the sunlit morning of 
her reign, 

In tuneful chorus swelled the 
glad refrain, 

From golden poet-throats out- 
poured, in praise 
Of Albion's new crowned queen ; through the dim haze 
Of Autumn twilight one delicious strain 
Of that rare harmony still floats. Again 
Its rhythmic beauty haunts the prayers men raise 
For those who kneel before the sacred shrine 
To breathe their marriage vows. While we recall 
A hope fulfilled, from reverent hearts we pray : 
"The blessings happy peasants have, be thine 
Oh crowned Queen! ** and as she proved them all 
Life's purest joys, may you, sweet English May! 

Marriage of H.R.H. the Duke of York. 1893-1894 




LVIII 

AWN of a glorious century, 
the beams 

Of thine unrisen splendour 
are new spilled, 
Through eve's long afterglow 
with sunshine filled. 
As, under Arctic skies, one 
day but dreams 
Upon the bosom of the next, while streams 
The light of noon. Thy first faint rays distilled 
Through mystery's slow lifting vapours, gild 
An aureole, about the head that gleams. 
In frolic playfulness, among the flower- 
Grown glades of childhood ; whose sweet eyes may see 
Thy future glory's unrevealed increase. 
Whose valour lead all Britain at the hour 
Of Armagheddon, or whose ministry 
May dedicate " The thousand years of peace." 

Birth of Prince Edward of York. 1894-1895 




LIX 

DEAL Monarch ! prudent, 
self-contained, 
In all life's various attitudes 
serene 
And dignified, thy reign's long 

scroll has been 
The fairest page of history, 
unstained 

By faintest blot of shame. Thy will restrained, 
Thy truth, thy justice, ever prone to lean 
Towards pleading Mercy, make thee such a Queen, 
That to the present's chorused praise unfeigned. 
The age to come will voice. Amen ! in clear- 
Toned thankfulness for broader liberty. 
In homage to thine heirs, the throne, the state. 
Beneath thy mild yet virile rule, each year 
Grown firmer in the people's will, who see 
And cherish power so tempered, wise, and great. 

To the Queen. 1895-1896 




LX 

S, through the beadsman's fin- 
gers, slips the strand, 
L oose held, of prayer's grace- 
giving gems, while he, 
Bowed in rapt vision o'er 

each mystery. 
Exhales his fervent soul's 
wreathed incense, and 
Reiterates, half consciously, the g-and 
T riumphant words of praise ; so rev'rently, 
Voiced o'er this linked sonnet rosary, 
I s loyalty's grave "Ave." In her hand, 
C aressing, long she holds this last carved bead, 
T raced with their monograph, whose spotless fame 

'erreached the stature of all simile; 
Repeating still, as in th' initial creed, 

1 nviolate faith in her, whose reign and name 
Are honour's, love's, truth's full epitome. 

Acrostic, Albert, Victoria. 1896-1897 



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